A Short Banishment
by Lady Eldaelen
Summary: Early in his exile, Prince Zuko happens upon some unconventional masters. In another universe, it could have been such a short banishment. AtLA x FMA, double shot, complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A Short Banishment  
** **~ Lady Eldaelen ~**

 _After the days and the seasons were set to their cycles, after the lands and the waters and the skies and the depths were given their boundaries, after the elements were defined and the origins of creation itself were long forgotten, our world grew a consciousness, grew a sense of self, and ultimately, grew tired of being alone._

 _And so the oceans set aside a piece of itself, the best it had to offer. Filtered and pristine, ice grew around this precious gift, protecting it, preserving it as the start of something more. But alone it could only remain contained in its frozen shelter, untouched and unnoticed and unable to do or become more._

 _So the earth offered a bit of itself, and the finest of dusts from the most precious, the most foundational of rocks was added and the water was given Form. But though it could now move and react to its surroundings, it remained as cold as the ice it was born to, as unyielding as the earth it was made from._

 _So a flame was set inside the Form. But it could not be sustained for long and soon this Spark was consuming the Form from the inside out. And for a while, the world and the elements thought its attempts to be nothing but folly, an endeavor doomed to fail..._

* * *

It was their fourth day at the Western Air Temple.

With provisions running low and a path forward still uncertain, Uncle ventured off in search of supplies and Zuko finally had respite from his hovering ministrations, if only for a few hours. Away from the palace and the attention of its master healers, fever had set in almost immediately. For a firebender, being unable to regulate such a basic function as body temperature was an uncomfortable and entirely unpleasant experience, not to mention downright embarrassing. Though he still felt like a baby salamander pig had used his head as a teething ring, Zuko was finally starting to feel better. Well enough for his physical fever to be overrun with cabin fever, anyway.

Alone at last, Zuko found the rough stone and echoing emptiness of the abandoned Temple unnerving, so he wrapped the worn dark green coat Uncle had procured for him around his shoulders and set out for the woods above. By the time he reached the surface, he was shaking and winded, wearied beyond belief. He slipped into a crouch to rest and cursed the Airbenders and their stupid idea of scale and gravity, their staircases that meandered everywhere except a way that made sense, their disappearance and the impact that had made on his life.

A pair of badgerfrogs called to each other, their croaks filtered through the trees. Zuko listened until his breathing evened out and he garnered enough strength to stand again. A subtle shift in the forest silenced the frogs, and a rumble reached his feet that rattled nearby foliage. On a gust of wind echoed the sound of voices. He followed in search of the source.

The clearing wasn't large, but there was room enough for a decent spar, as the two kids were demonstrating with surprising proficiency. All his life, he'd heard the whispered rumors from tutors and masters that his sister was a prodigy, that most so young -including himself- were too undisciplined, too unskilled to fight and bend at such a high level. Yet here among the trees Zuko stared, dumbfounded, as a couple of _children_ younger than him, and quite possibly even Azula, by several years bent rock after rock at each other, dodging and blocking and redirecting attacks like seasoned soldiers. This eventually devolved into a dirt-flinging war, then slowly the clumps of dirt morphed into smooth ribbons of earth that they slung around not unlike the fire whips Zuko practiced creating.

A stream of earth smashed against a nearby tree, splintering the thinner branches above and causing Zuko to jump out of the way and into view. The kids separated at his sudden appearance and crouched into defensive stances so quickly that Zuko was surprised he didn't have to dodge a rock or two himself.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, equally as surprised that he had let himself be found out.

The glances between the previously sparring pair relayed a silent conversation, one that ended with the shorter of the two asking, "What does it look like we're doing?"

A simple enough redirect, infuriating in that evasive way only a child could pull off. As if Zuko wasn't still one himself. Exhaustion prevented him from doing anything but replying, "Earthbending."

The kid snorted. Then he laughed. His companion smiled sheepishly and gave an apologetic little shrug of his shoulders.

"Come on, Brother. Teacher told us to practice."

The laughing increased to the point where the kid doubled over and toppled to the ground.

"Edward!" The second kid shrieked when, gasping, his brother flailed into him and sent them both rolling down the hillside. Bracing his feet, he slammed his hands against the ground, sending a small mound of earth upward to launch the still-laughing kid several feet above Zuko's head.

Zuko steeled himself for a collision, but it never came. He watched as the one called Edward immediately stopped laughing to scan his surroundings with overly calculating eyes, golden Fire Nation eyes, before twisting lithely in the air like a cougar wolf. At the peak of his trajectory, the kid executed an intricate form that Zuko didn't recognize but the end result was a gust of wind and dirt that erupted from the ground and sent Zuko tumbling backwards. He rolled and righted himself just in time to watch the boy with Fire Nation eyes neatly hop off his strange earth wave as it dissipated into a hazy cloud.

"That's it, Alphonse, you're gonna get it now!"

Edward launched himself at his brother and the two resumed their previous scuffle as if they hadn't been interrupted in the first place.

And then it started raining.

What began as a light mist soon had the entire clearing drenched, Zuko included. His wound ached as dampness seeped into the dressing, but Zuko's curiosity kept him rooted firmly in his spot. Under the darkened, weeping sky, the two kids remained dry.

Edward set up another complicated-looking move that hurled his companion into a tree. As the kid shot by, the trailing rush of wind chilled Zuko to the core.

"Ow, Ed! We agreed no trees!" Alphonse protested as he recovered, rubbing absently at bark scrapes that now dotted his arms.

Zuko could hold his disbelief in no longer. "Who -what _-how are you doing that?!"_

"Oh, you're still here?" Edward asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"What? Of course I am!"

Apparently deciding that Zuko was not threat enough to even give him his full attention, Edward watched his brother pick a twig out of his hair. "What do you want?"

"I want to know what it is you're doing! You look like earthbenders and you certainly fight like them, but you're not even using regular pieces of rock! How do you maintain so much control over dirt? _And why aren't you getting wet?"_

The kids looked at each other, at Zuko, down at their dry clothes, and back at Zuko. Comprehension dawned slowly on Edward's face, and he brushed one hand over the other arm before stretching it out, sending a blast of air over Zuko's head. Zuko watched in awe as the rain bounced off an invisible cover.

"Are you... airbending?" Zuko asked in a whisper.

"Hasn't anyone told you that the Airbenders died out a century ago?"

"But how are you..." Zuko trailed off, pointing up at the water collecting above his head. The two kids exchanged another series of glances that Zuko had only previously seen between his sister and her friends, of those with shared secrets that he was never going to hear. Zuko also got the impression that his new acquaintances thought him to be like a very, very small child. One that needed repeated explanations and a lot of extra lessons. Sure enough, Edward soon schooled his expression into a mimicry of every tutor Zuko had ever sat under and began speaking in an equally familiar tone that irritated the prince almost as much as his lack of comprehension.

"Water isn't pure, most of it, anyway. There's enough trace minerals in rain that can be manipulated. We're bending that." Edward dropped his hands, and with it ended the lecture and demonstration; Zuko gasped as the collected water dumped over him.

"Mineral bending?" he spluttered, wiping the wetness off his face as best he could. "That's crazy!"

"Technically we're bending elements."

" _Earth_ is an element," Zuko insisted.

"It's more of a compound," the second, quieter child allowed. He pulled a face of deep thought, digging through his no doubt vast bank of knowledge for the right explanation. "It's a mixture. Like water."

"Like _fire_ ," Edward pointed out impatiently.

"What are you talking about?! Fire is fire is fire!"

"And earth is earth is earth," Edward countered. "Unless you're in the desert, then it's sand. Or in the swamps it's more of a soupy mush, as much water as earth."

"And water is water unless it's ice or rain or clouds. Clouds are mostly air. And air is air unless it's fog or smoke. Get close enough to the source of smoke, and you're probably looking at fire."

"Enough! You're not making any sense. There's four elements for a reason - they're supposed to be separate!"

"But as we just said, they're more alike than you think."

"So what does that mean? You can earthbend, so that means you can fire and air and waterbend too?"

"What do I look like, the Avatar?"

And the two kids erupted in a round of laughter that sent Zuko's insides reeling, pushing against all the barriers he'd built since the day his mother disappeared, since hearing his sister's taunts of their father's plan to kill him, since he woke in a haze of pain and confusion to steal away from the palace in the dead of night like a criminal instead of a prince. Zuko's breaths came in short and deep as he felt his control slipping away piece by piece.

"He's not laughing, Ed."

"Of course he's not." The kid frowned, then raised his hands, replacing the rain barrier above their heads. "Look, if you're trying to hide, you're going to have to work a little harder at it. You're really showing your Fire Nation roots."

"And how would you know where I'm from or what I'm trying to do?"

"Enough to know that no self-respecting Fire National wears any colors but red, dark red, brown red, or gold." Ed pointed at Zuko's favorite tunic and pants, in self-respecting dark red and brown red with gold trim, clearly visible under the emerald Earth Kingdom coat still wrapped around his shoulders. "And no town in a three days' walk sells fabric that's not some shade of green or yellow."

Zuko felt his face flush and it took every last bit of strength left in him not to blast both kids out of the clearing and off the side of the nearby cliff. He ignored the tiny part of his mind that doubted his winning a fight with the boys at all. And then from behind him to the left, a voice called out, "Whatever you're doing, it certainly doesn't look like practice."

His breath hitched in his throat as the owner of the voice stepped into the clearing between Zuko and the boys. She was thin and pale, and she wore her long dark hair bound in dozens of tiny braids pulled back in a loose bun. Her clothes were exotic, with the cut of Fire Nation working class fashion but in the palest of yellows and dark earthy greens. Her bare arms were lean and strong; she was holding an open umbrella in one hand and balancing an awkwardly large parcel on one hip with ease.

He hadn't seen many young Fire Nation women since his mother disappeared, not in the palace or on his few excursions beyond its gates, and certainly not in such a close proximity as this woman was to him now. Her sudden appearance caught him off guard. The harsh look she gave him, half disproving and half annoyed, reminded him of his father. She ignored the other two with more than her eyes and shooed them away like a carer would to irritating young charges.

"Go help Sig with the supplies," she ordered. And they obeyed, just like that, scampering off through the woods with a respectful _yes ma'am_ and a carefree laugh.

She looked nothing like his mother, but all the same, Zuko could not stop from staring at her. Openly. With his mouth slightly drooped in what he was sure was a rather stupid expression. She set down her parcel and umbrella, reoriented her feet, and slammed her open palms against the ground. A wall of earth rose up around them, curving gracefully into an arc above their heads.

"That's better," she replied, removing a smaller bag she was carrying on her shoulders. She rummaged inside and pulled out a wooden box.

"Come here, you're not going to heal if you stay wet like that."

And Zuko found he could not disobey.

Her eyes were a deep cold grey, almost black, but they softened as Zuko drew alongside her. She didn't mention his odd behavior, didn't say anything as she felt his forehead with the back of one hand, the other cupped gently beneath his chin. With a barely audible sigh her lips turned down in the smallest of frowns and she pulled her hands away.

"May I?" she asked him quietly, waiting for his nod before undoing the bandages covering his face. Her expression didn't change as the last of the dressings were pulled away, to which Zuko was mildly surprised, his uncle usually frowned at the very least. The area around his left eye itched as it was freed from its protective layer and he blinked repeatedly to try to clear the blurriness away. From her box the woman pulled out a container; its contents smelled like oversteeped tea and dirt and looked like gloppy mud. With a wave of her hand she gathered a bit of rain into a ball and dipped it into the goo, turning the water a murky green. Zuko closed his eyes as she brought the water ball towards him, it made contact as a million stinging darts pricking over his eye and cheek and ear. Reflexively he pulled away but a strong hand just behind his neck kept him in place. In a moment it was over, and a numbing coolness took the place of the previous irritation.

Zuko cracked open his eyes to watch her pull a glob of the stuff with another wave of her hand and it smoothed and flattened into a thin disk that she brought up to his wound. Another rummage through the box produced a clean set of bandages, and it was only after he shut his eyes again and she started applying a new dressing that she spoke.

"It can be hard to hear something that goes against everything you've ever been taught. What the boys were telling you, about the order of things, how the whole world fits together. Don't be upset that you don't understand it all. No one does, not the first time, sometimes not ever. Just remember what you heard today so when you're ready to know more, it will be there."

Zuko felt her secure the bandages behind his head. The heat from her hand lingered over his brow and when he looked at her, there was the slightest hint of wetness at the corners of her eyes that could not be attributed to the rain.

"There. I know the smell is probably too earthy for your tastes, but it will speed healing and make things a bit more comfortable for you."

"Who says I deserve to be comfortable?" Zuko muttered.

"That's no way to talk. Here," she handed him the wooden box and her umbrella. "Make sure you keep dry." She waited patiently until he realized her intentions and actually opened the umbrella. "You shouldn't stay out too late. Someone is getting worried, no?"

Zuko nodded mutely and, responding to her smile, turned around and left the clearing. He retraced his path through the trees to the cliff's edge and the hidden entrance to the Air Temple. The way down was easier this time.

* * *

Notes: I've been editing the remainder of Pacific Dragon, but needed some instant gratification - or as instant as four years between first file save and posting can bring. Oh, how things could have been different with a bunch of alchemists thrown into the bending mix! -Or would they? Might be a two-shot if I ever finish the polishing on the second bit.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Short Banishment  
** **~ Lady Eldaelen ~**

The woman waited until the footfalls of the boy blended in with the background movement of the rest of the forest before speaking again.

"You can come out now. I know you're there, old man."

With a chuckle, a figure emerged from behind a stand of dense bushes. Stout of stature, the man gave off a completely unassuming and nonthreatening air that, coupled with a solid neutral stance, probably fooled many into thinking that Earth was his natural element.

"It is alway difficult to surprise an Earthbender," he rumbled amiably. They stood facing each other, she still under her earth canopy, he blinking water out of his eyes as the rain continued to fall.

With a sigh, she stomped the ground and another earth wall rose to cover the old man, who smiled and set down his armload of supplies to wipe his face dry on the inner sleeve of his cloak.

"Thank you," he offered. "For what you did for my nephew. That was an unexpected kindness."

"You should take that boy to see the Waterbenders at the North Pole, some of them have been known to heal. No child deserves a wound like that."

"Even a master healer cannot mend all the wounds my nephew bears."

"That's a shame."

"Yes, it is."

"Teacher!"

"Teacher! We're done loading the supplies!"

The two boys slid into the clearing on each other's heels, stopping at the sight of yet another unfamiliar face. The woman never took her eyes off the old man as she replied smoothly, "You go on home. I won't be far behind."

The boys didn't miss the coverings over them both; uncomfortable as they might have been leaving her alone, she had provided the stranger protection from the rain. He probably wasn't much of a threat. With dual nods, they backed away.

"You're a teacher?"

"I'm just a simple housewife." The old man inclined his head, clearly expecting more. She paused a moment before continuing, "Some call me Teacher, yes, but I don't believe anyone can say they are not a teacher to at least one other."

"Ah, a wise one. Would you indulge me in a lesson then? I quite enjoy the stories of early history, if you know any," he rummaged through a small sack and withdrew a well-worn travel kettle. "I'll make us some tea."

"I don't have time for tea, old man," she responded harshly. She rolled her eyes as his face fell, "But I'll tell you a story if that's what you want."

And she did.

 _Just when the Form was about to be completely destroyed, the winds blew over It and sent a Gust deep inside. The Gust fueled the Spark and quenched its thirst. And when the Spark used up the first Gust, the winds sent a second, and a third, again and again until the Form learned the rhythm of breath. And after the Form learned to allow a Gust to dwell continually inside, the Form then learned to harness its Spark for energy and command the Earth that was its vessel and control its Waters, its very essence of Self. And once balance was achieved within Itself, this marked the beginning of all living things, indeed of all life._

The rain had stopped by the time she finished and the silence was reluctantly broken when the old man declared, "That was a beautiful story."

"Many Airbender legends are."

"You don't hear many of those nowadays. I've heard a similar Fire Nation tale, but of course, they are the ones to provide the inner Flame of life."

"Sure, and if you ask someone from the Water Tribes, their story ends with water saving the immutable Form from a rigid existence. And scholars from Ba Sing Se will argue that it was Earth who gave substance to the ethereal Soul."

"Which side is right?" he questioned.

She sidestepped his unspoken challenge easily. "Does there have to be just one accepted version?"

"Very wise, indeed. Tell me, young lady, do you enjoy Pai Sho?"

"White Lotus, huh?"

"You've heard of the group?"

"I've studied under more of its members than you've met."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

"I know exactly who you are, Dragon of the West."

"And I of you, Izumi of the Deep Forest. It seems our reputations precede us, even way out here."

She shifted slightly and both rain canopies collapsed back into the ground, indistinguishable once more from the surrounding earth. "If this is a recruitment visit, I'm not interested."

"Such a shame, the Order could use minds like yours."

Another lengthy silence.

Izumi inclined her head the direction of the path that led towards town.

"Those boys, Ed and Al, they nearly lost their home to your people. Fire Nation builders visited their village two years ago. They spent a single day surveying the area and talked to no one in town before they left. The Southeastern Dam was built with typical Fire Nation efficiency and praised as another example of the technological might of the Fire Nation. But the builders didn't know about the rainy season. They didn't see any levees around the rivers and streams that were so low when they were there that single day so long ago, they didn't think to ask about the weather patterns. So they failed to learn that every year after the first rain the local Earthbenders build up new embankments as high as a camelephant with its trunk stretch up, or that the embankments are torn down at the end of the season and used as fresh soil for the farmers' fields. They just assumed the area wouldn't be affected by diversions made upstream. Nearly brought down half the mountain in mud. I was visiting the area, just passing through, really, and caught the boys trying to fortify one of the levees. Probably would have worked, too, if they'd been standing on land instead of on a sinking boat in the middle of what used to be their backyard."

She studied Iroh's increasingly grim expression and while he didn't appear completely surprised, he had the decency to look slightly abashed.

"And that's where we differ, you and your Order and I. There are plenty of minds like mine already inducted, but what good is coming from them? You are content to mutually embrace all of your members, yet you turn a blind eye to the rest of the world. You have so much power, so much potential, and it's laying stagnant behind your secret rituals and ancient codes."

Izumi gathered up her own packages, shrugged the bag back across her shoulders and hefted her larger parcel back to her hip.

"At least there's hope for that one, your nephew. In the face of a life-altering revelation, he didn't let his anger overrule his desire to seek the truth. Didn't fall back on the Fire Nation motto to flame first and then ask questions. That's what I heard was his downfall against the Fire Lord."

"He gets that from his mother."

"And where was she when he was injured?"

She frowned and shook her head when Iroh didn't answer.

"I don't believe our children should be paying for our mistakes, for the mistakes of _our_ forebears," Izumi said softly, her thoughts not entirely on Ed and Al. "It says something about the state of our world when the better choice is to pull children away from their parents' influence."

"I do not disagree. He's not there anymore," Iroh responded, not entirely referring to Zuko, either.

The pair spent a few more moments reflecting before Izumi retraced the steps that would take her home. She stopped before leaving the clearing completely and turned back to the Dragon of the West.

"Do you know what conclusion I draw from the story of life, old man?"

Iroh quirked his brow and gestured for her to continue.

"Water, earth, fire, or air - it doesn't matter. There's a little Avatar in all of us."

* * *

 **Epilogue**

Zuko undid his hat as he entered, no need for disguises at the tea shop. The Jasmine Dragon had been the unofficial after-party location for the young warriors every evening once the day's summit talks and peace planning wrapped up. His uncle greeted him warmly from behind the counter, though most of his attention remained on the row of teapots he was preparing for service. The shop was fuller than usual for this time of night when, in all honestly, it should have been closed. More interestingly, unlike the other nights they'd gathered, Zuko didn't immediately recognize some of the faces interspersed amongst his friends.

One of the new teens, golden hair pulled back in a braid, pried his strangely familiar Fire Nation eyes away from an amused and blushing Toph to shoot Zuko a cocky grin. A hazy memory bubbled to the surface of his mind and quickly gained clarity as his gaze landed next on the lanky youth engrossed in animated conversation with Sokka, then the woman with the braids over in the corner trouncing Piandao in Pai Sho.

"Hey, Fire Lord. I heard you found the Avatar."

* * *

Notes: Other people hanging out at the Jasmine Dragon: some romanticized version of Roy, from some fully integrated colony like Yu Dau, who, after joining the army became disenfranchised with the singular nation idea and may or may not have led an uprising amongst his troops during Sozin's Comet… perhaps a couple of Earthbenders, one portly, one tall and skinny, who may or may not have met Roy at some point and thrown in with him… maybe a young non-bender with hipster glasses who trained under the mechanist… a mousy librarian from Ba Sing Se U with an eidetic memory who will spearhead attempts (unsuccessful) to bring the Spirit Library back to the surface… and Riza, who of course is there after I don't know, taking time out of her bounty hunting to watch Roy's back because no one else is stupid (in love) enough to do it. Also an upper class family entourage including the girl (now woman) who made Piandao swear off students (Zuko and Sokka aside) and has been chilling in the North Pole running the non-bending security of the entire colony, and her not-so-little brother who may or may not be Bumi's second choice after Toph for next King of Omashu. Not that I've thought about this for any length of time or anything. And thus ends my foray into AtLA x FMA. This is the year of not leaving things hanging around. I say this now, in January, giving me plenty of time to screw that plan up. Hope you've enjoyed this hot mess.


End file.
